training courses

European Master in Plant Health

Descriptif de la formation

European Master Degree in plant Health in sustainable cropping systems (Master Européen Erasmus + Santé des végétaux dans les systèmes de culture durables) is organised by a consortium of six Universities from four European countries. PlantHealth represents an innovation in its interdisciplinary focus, giving clear priority to complex research areas and global policy issues. A distinctive and important feature of the Consortium is the emphasis on applied research, and on teaching which is applicable in plant health management.
Plant health management is a key subject of global development with regard to food safety, food security and environmental preservation. With the increasing globalization and climate change new diseases and pests threatening agricultural production will occur and have to be tackled. In many parts of the world, plant protection products are not used according to advanced regulatory and safety standards. A key issue is the need to take into account the population dynamics of pests, pathogens or weeds in the context of the whole agro-ecosystem, including beneficials, and the impact of the cropping system. The development of safe crop protection methods requires the education of highly skilled professionals for crop protection management in a sustainable agriculture, in the developed countries as well as in the developing world. This is the core mission of the European Master Degree in Plant Health in sustainable cropping systems.

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Programme

The Courses take place in two different countries (at least one year in each country).
In the first year, or M1, students must select between Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) or University of Göttingen (Germany). The M1 phase offers common education to deliver the same basis of knowledge to all the students and consists of compulsory modules on fundamental aspects in: crop sciences, crop protection, population biology, molecular biology and statistics. All the M1 courses are taught in English.
In the second year, or M2, students will choose a hosting University from the PlantHealth Consortium which necessarily must me located in a different country from that of the M1. Students shall have the chance to specialise in particular topics of their interest to get a deeper knowledge in well-defined fields of integrated pest management in different agro-ecosystems across diverse climatic zones. M2 courses are taught in English or in French.

Acquired skills

On completion of the PlantHealth Master Degree, graduates will be able to:
• Diagnose and identify plant health problems
• Analyse the causes of these problems and evaluate their environmental, economic and social consequences
• Conceive technically adapted, economically viable, socially acceptable, health and environment benign solutions, meeting the requirements of sustainable cropping systems
• Apply research methods, instruments and tools appropriately
• Use their knowledge and skills in a wide range of agricultural contexts, and transfer the scientific advances to a wide range of projects and actors at international level.